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Labyrinth by Kate Mosse

Wednesday, July 26, 2017

"Three secrets. Two women. One grail"

"July 1209: in Carcassonne a seventeen-year-old girl is given a mysterious book by her father which he claims contains the secret of the true grail. Although Alaїs cannot understand the strange words and symbols hidden within, she knows that her destiny lies in keeping the secret of the labyrinth safe...

July 2005: Alice Tanner discovers two skeletons in a forgotten cave in the French Pyrenees. Puzzled by the labyrinth symbol carved into the rocks, she realizes she's disturbed something that was meant to remain hidden. Somehow a link to a horrific past has been revealed."

Title: Labyrinth Author: Kate Mosse

Year Published: 2005 Genre: Realistic Fiction Pages: 701

Favorite Quote: "What we leave behind in this life is the memory of who we were and what we did. An imprint no more."
"If I had known how it would feel to live with such loneliness, to stand, the sole witness to the endless cycle of birth and life and death, what would I have done."
"Anger serves no purpose. So my friend, keep your anger and your sword in readiness for those battles you can win."

Alice Tanner our heroine discovered two skeletons in a hidden cave in the Pyrenees Mountains. She unexpectedly found herself tangled in a mystery of the past which brought her running through the streets of medieval France. Meanwhile Alais is on the run to escape from her sister and to fulfill a promise she made on her father's deathbed. Torn between loyally to her husband and her father, Alais has to make a decision whether to stay beside her husband and protect the burning walls of Carcassona or take courage and set off and find the other keepers of the secret and fulfill the promise she made to her father. Mean while as the walls of Carcassone began to fall, Oriane is eager to make a deal to exchange information for her freedom in case Carcassona will be conquered. She is determine to do everything to save herself. This book characterized love, loyalty and betrayal.

However, I don't really know what to feel about the characters of the book. First there is Alais a seventeen year old, a teenager who was given a huge responsibility to protect and fulfill a responsibility which was supposed to be his father. However, dad seemed to have forgotten about it put it aside and when it was time for him to act on his responsibility, it was rather too late and conveniently hand it her young daughter who just got married at seventeen. Also there's the older sister who was married to an older man and was left alone with little to no attention. No wonder there is a huge sibling rivalry and disloyalty to the family.
What I like about this book is the twist of conspiracy in the medieval French history. It is like a mix of The Librarian, The National Treasure and Dan Brown's Da Vinci Code.

The book has so many details and narration of French history but what I like about it is that the text is easy to follow. The text is also mixed with Occitan words but there is a glossary you can follow and besides even if you don't check the words, it is easy to understand just by following the context.
This is the first book that I read from Kate Mosse and I love everything about it. I also like that French history is also introduced in the story. I don't really mind reading through the details.

So if you are not the person who likes too much historical details and narrations in a book, then you might find this book challenging to read.

Would I recommend this book? definitely yes!
Thanks for reading. Till next time!
Love,
The Book Hag